


sunkissed

by mercibun



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, I still don't know how to tag things here, Reunions, friends with potential, oh to run into noya in a bar in italy, written in lowercase for style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25527718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercibun/pseuds/mercibun
Summary: you do a double take when you see spiked hair with a distinctive golden wisp at the front. it reminds you, viscerally, of someone you attended high school with - you had never been particularly close with nishinoya, but his presence had always been a comfortable one in your class. he walks inside to place an order with the barista, and you find that your eyes follow his retreating form.nah, that can’t be him.could it?
Relationships: Nishinoya Yuu & Reader, Nishinoya Yuu/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	sunkissed

it was the hair that had tipped you off.

you’re sitting in your usual spot in your usual bar, sunlight peeking under your table’s umbrella as your pen hovers over a blank page. you’ve come out here for a study break towards the end of the morning rush. to clear your head before you go back to your pile of textbooks later, you reason with yourself and try to ignore the guilty feeling of procrastination creeping up behind you

you do a double take when you see spiked hair with a distinctive golden wisp at the front. it reminds you, viscerally, of someone you attended high school with - you had never been particularly close with nishinoya, but his presence had always been a comfortable one in your class. he walks inside to place an order with the barista, and you find that your eyes follow his retreating form.

_nah, that can’t be him._

thankfully, your coffee arrives mere moments later. it’s a nice distraction for the most part and a sip of the drink tells you that it’s exactly what you needed to clear your mind from your studies, yet you cannot shake the feeling that you know the bar’s latest patron. it wakes something uncomfortable deep in your chest that you don’t know what name.

you’re stirring your drink when he reemerges. there’s a proverb written on his shirt that brings a bittersweet smile to your lips as you take another sip - in familiar kanji, no less. the odds are stacking in favour of your past. you don’t even realise you’ve been staring until he looks in your direction.

you avert your eyes from the man as soon as he meets your gaze, redirecting your attention back to your notebook. you cringe a little, hoping that you won’t be forced to confront the fact that you were staring at someone who may very well be a total stranger. you were in _italy_ , for fuck’s sake - the chances of meeting someone from japan were relatively low, let alone one of your old classmates. but that hair and that shirt ...

fortunately (unfortunately?), he makes that decision for you. his face lights up with recognition, settling on a grin that you haven’t seen in years.

“hey! (y/n)-san, is that you?”

you let out a breath that you didn’t quite realise you were holding, and place your mug back on its saucer as he approaches your table. you’d almost forgotten how nice it was to hear japanese spoken to you in person.

“noya-san, it’s been a while. do you want to sit with me?”

“if you don’t mind the company, sure!”

were it coming from anyone else, you suspect that the bubbly enthusiasm that he spouts might be exhausting. he’s clearly not short on energy from the way he takes a seat across from you and relaxes in his chair as if it were his own at home. now that he’s closer, you take a moment to actually look at him.

his hair is longer, for starters. it feels silly that it’s the first thing you notice about him, but he’d always stood out because of it whenever he wasn’t accidentally causing a scene. even now, years later, his fringe is still blond - you’re pretty sure you remember a time when that wasn’t the case, but the memory is faded with age and you aren’t sure how accurate it is in the face of passing time.

you are _also_ pretty certain that the last time the two of you had spoken, nishinoya had been a little shorter - though since you’ve been sitting down through the entire encounter you can’t say for sure just yet. he’s definitely gotten broader, and there’s a warm glow to his skin that tells of a life recently lived under the sun that you definitely hadn’t seen back in japan.

his energy is less scattered than you remember. nishinoya had always been a confident person, but he was always so chaotic - now, it's almost like he's grown into that self-assuredness. despite the small differences, he seems more like himself than ever. it suits him.

it’s only when you meet his eyes that you realise that you were staring (again), however this time you realise that he’s been staring right back. the wind changes, ruffling his spiky hair just a little. _he smells like the sea._ it makes sense, you suppose; the city where you’re staying is oceanside.

“here you are, _signore_. we would have gotten this to you at the same time, but we didn’t realise you were both at the same table.” one of the bar’s few table staff interrupts. she seems genuinely apologetic, and a little lost - you figure she might be new to the job.

“no problem at all, that’s on me - i didn’t know my friend was here until a few moments ago.” he’s cheerful as ever as he apologises to the waitress and waves a hand towards you for emphasis, but you feel your brow furrow just a little with confusion.

 _friend._ why are you surprised by that? you’ve never hated the guy, and nishinoya is certainly blunt enough that he wouldn’t have come over to your table if he disliked you. you frown into your coffee and take a sip, silence settling between the two of you as you find yourself lost in thought.

while it only lasts for a few moments, it doesn’t surprise you that nishinoya is the first to break the quiet at your table.

“you said you were coming to europe after we graduated, but i didn’t think i’d see you here.” he laughs, maybe a little awkwardly. “you’re at university?”

“sure am. i’m in my final year.” 

“no way! congratulations.”

“thank you!” you hum. his enthusiasm is infectious as ever, and you feel your earlier awkwardness dissipating. “but ... what are you doing here?”

“fishing.”

he’s never lied to you as far as you know, but there’s something extra earnest about the admission that catches you off guard. you cover your mouth with a hand and cough instead of spitting out your drink (which was your first instinct), but your startled reaction earns a chuckle from him anyway.

“seriously!”

“okay - i know you said you were going to follow your heart once you graduated, but i didn’t think it would lead you to the ocean.” your shoulders are shaking a little with laughter. “looking for anything specific?”

“aside from adventure? i want to catch a marlin or two while i’m here. the locals say they’re a good challenge for tourists.”

“huh. i thought you’d be playing professionally by now, everyone always said you were good.” at the end of your second year their team had gone to nationals. you know very little about the sport even now, not even enough to know the positions outside of _the one that hits the ball_ and _the one that stops the ball_ (or was there two of those roles?) - but you’d heard stories about the fact that nishinoya was one of the core members of the team. you take another sip of your cooling coffee, noting with a bitter pang that the cup is almost empty.

“i wanted to try something new.” he responds, and you realise only when he puts his cup down that he’d been thinking about his answer. “i love volleyball, but there’s other things to life, you know? maybe i’ll play again someday, maybe i won’t. speaking of which -” he brandishes his spoon at you - “what are you studying at university here? are you enjoying it?”

noya changes the subject with more grace than you would have expected - but then again, he just keeps on surprising you. you don’t want to push him when you’ve only just reunited, so you let it slide and allow yourself to get tangled up in the ebb and flow of catching up.

the idle chatter remains when you finish up your drinks, but your mind is wandering back to the past in between your words. 

you and nishinoya were never close during school, only ever friendly acquaintances despite being in the same class. the two of you didn’t really have many common friends, either. he’d been more of a troublemaker than you, even if by accident - the memory of him being suspended still surprised you a little, and you’d never known which rumours about the incident were true. 

different hobbies, too; while you’d always been more interested in the creative side of life, he’d always been fired up about volleyball. even though he’d explained his reasoning, it was still a little weird to you that he’d just dropped it so readily. in contrast you’d stuck with your arts, going to it in times of stress when you needed the comfort of a story in either words or art.

and yet here you both were, standing outside of a bar in italy, where he’d called you his friend to a waitress neither of you knew.

you linger for a moment. now that you’ve reunited, you’re hesitant to let him go without any chance at at least trying to kindle a friendship first. you’re halfway across the world, but you’ve found a piece of home.

“same time tomorrow?”

his grin widens.

“see you then.”


End file.
